A small plane that took from Haiti last night, with three people on board has crashed off the northern coast of the Dominican republic.

According to the Dominican Civil Aviation Authority, the people on board included an American and two Canadians.

A statement from the aviation authority issued Tuesday said the plane took off from Port-au-Prince on Monday and was headed to the Dominican Republic coastal town of Puerto Plata. The Air Force of the Dominican Republic had located wreckage from the plane and was searching for survivors.

The single-engine Lake LA-250 apparently lost contact with the control tower shortly after 6:00 pm when it was about 4 miles (6 kilometers) from Puerto Plata. The cause of the accident remains unknown.

Since American and Canadian citizens were among the victims of the crash, it is expected that these two countries will join the search efforts to locate the passengers.